The Department of Labor & Industries will host four hearings for public comment on regulations concerning structured settlement agreements for workers’ compensation claims. In 2011, the Washington State Legislature passed several major workers’ compensation reform acts. Engrossed House Bill 2123 permits workers, employers or the Dept of Labor & Industries to open and negotiate structured settlement agreements to resolve claims for qualified injured workers age 55 and over. A … [Read more...]
In recent months the California Department of Insurance has been trying to enlist "suspicious employers," investigators, and "concerned co-workers" in the fight against insurance fraud by asking them to use social networks and "smart interviewing techniques that uncover information [leading] to prosecutions." The CDI is even holding workshops and distributing DVDs to reinforce their campaign. Yet in the process, it's been making some outrageous claims about the rates and cost of workers' … [Read more...]
Some companies assume they can ignore the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when it comes to employees who haven’t yet reached their anniversary dates. Yet that belief was directly overturned this month by the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc. addressed the question of whether a first-year employee – in other words, a worker who had not yet reached eligibility for FMLA leave – had job protection when she … [Read more...]
Two weeks ago we reported the story of Arkansas worker Lauren Eason, who was denied a change of physician even though her doctor had died in December. Eason had already switched physicians earlier in the year, and Arkansas law does not allow patients with a workers compensation injury to change a second time. Therefore, after her newer doctor passed away, the Arkansas Workers Compensation Commission ruled that she would have to stick with that physician regardless of the bizarre … [Read more...]
